April 06, 2011

Police in Lakewood, Colorado had to deal with a stressful situation February 22. A person holding a sharp piece of wood tried to stab officers while making a threat that he wanted to kill them.

The only problem was that the person was an 8-year-old boy.

The Associated Press reports that police had to pepper-spray Aidan Elliott twice at Glennon Heights Elementary School after he refused to drop a piece of wooden wall trim that he tried to stab them with.

Police told reporters that pepper-spraying the boy was the safest option available.

The boy's mother said that she wants Lakewood police to receive special training in dealing with children. The boy was enrolled in a special program at the school for children with behavioral problems.

She said that her son has had outbursts in the past but has responded well to mediation.

The boy made the rounds of morning talk shows such as NBC's "Today" show and ABC's "Good Morning America" where he admitted that he wanted to "whack" them with the piece of wood.

When he was asked on "Good Morning America" whether he meant what he said when he told police he wanted to kill them, his reply was "A little."

There's no word on what kind of punishment the boy received. The article mentions that he has since transferred to another school.

Based on the information presented in the article, would you agree with the method Lakewood police used?

February 24, 2011

Whatever the street value of an iPod might be, it's certainly not worth someone's life.

U.S. Marshals said that Hugo Gonzalez, 17, and Brian Johnson, 18, were arrested in Las Cruces, New Mexico on Wednesday in the stabbing death of a 15 year old boy in El Paso after a robbery that went terribly wrong.

According to officials, the two teens stabbed the unidentified boy as they robbed him of a cell phone and an iPod three weeks ago.

Apple's popular music player has sold in the millions since its debut in October 2001.

November 01, 2010

Police in Carnation, Wash., are investigating an alleged plot by a 12-year-old middle school student to kill at least 20 students and teachers and then slay his adoptive family, television station KING reported.

The investigation began when another boy confronted the suspect as he was bullying some girls on school bus, the station reported. The young suspect threatened to kill the other boy, according to the second boy's parents.

"He said he was going to shoot my son and slit his throat to make sure he did a good job," the station quoted one parent, only identified as Traci, as saying. "There’s three parts to a crime. The planning, the ability and the follow through. He got two-thirds of the way there."

Traci went on to tell the station: "He had names, he made a list. He was serious. He got his supplies and he was ready to go."

The station obtained court documents that indicated police found two shotguns and a loaded 9mm handgun in the boy’s possession.

The station reported that the 12-year-old was on a violent path in past couple months, having recently been arrested for trying to strangle his 12-year-old sister.

June 22, 2010

Authorities in Houston have charged a charter school teacher with felony injury to a child in connection with the videotaped beating of a 13-year-old boy who attending Jamie's House Charter School in northwest Houston.

Three other employees of the school -- the school superintendent and founder, a principal and another teacher -- also will faces charges of failure to report child abuse, a misdemeanor.

Teacher Sheri Lynn Davis was caught on a cellphone video repeatedly striking, kicking and dragging the teenager in her class as he tried to protect himself, the Associated Press reported. He suffered a black eye and bruises, the AP reported.